Monday, July 14, 2008

How much Elvis does a candidate (and his running mate) need? Or have we (finally) moved away from Elvis and moved on to John & Paul, Jim Morrison, Bono, or even Springsteen?

Clinton = Elvis. Which is where this stupidity comes from. But Gore? Elvis? and did he have it in 1988, 2000, or even 2008? Ultimately, Gore isn't Elvis. Gore's rockstar is something else, and it may even be dependent on other people's direction (as in movie or TV) and Gore's 40 months in the wilderness following 2000. So is Gore Charlton Heston circa 1970?

That Republicans don't have rockstar is a given. Ronnie Raygun had a movie star thing on with certain conservatives, but that was more about genially willing to kick the crap out of anything threatening to U.S. ego and interests, both domstically and foreign. Oddly, Huckabee has some rockstar, but it's more in common with a preacher (no surprise) - which I think is why he gives hives to rest of the parties in and just outsie the Republican tent.

Obama is no Elvis either; Obama has something else . . I call his rockstar Neil Young, because no matter how good the music is, there's parts of his philosophy that are still offensive to me, and inevitably Young does something to piss me off as though it's personally degrading to him that the a DFH blogger like me could support his ass.

Does the VP candidate need rockstar? Does he or she need some Ringo & George, John Densmore, The Edge, or Steven Van Zant or Patti Scialfa?

Which comes back around to Obama as Neil Young, saying or doing something that pisses me off. On that list of FISA enablers, Webb, Nelson and Bayh all stand out. I would consider it unlikely that if any of the Senators are being considered that they'd knowingly diverge from Obama's position. But no rockstars.

In the current crop of VP's-in-waiting, only Edwards has a rockstar that is clearly evident. But Edwards has little or no chance for the second line of the ticket. Bill Richardson has an anti-rockstar - he's like a genial stand-up comedian with a schlub persona who's learned that he's not very funny telling jokes. Sen. Clinton has no Elvis - but is she like Madonna or Melissa Etheridge? Or does she just have no rockstar?

Of course, I'd pay real money for anyone who's got no celebrity and is a sure improvement to the Slim Pickens currently in office.

My wife and discussed this issue this weekend. We both feel if there is going to be a minority on the ticket it has to be Hillary.

If not, it has to be a white Christian Senator or ex-Senator. Biden or Edwards.

Crap, Clark would have been a shoo-in for V/P until his gaffe on McLame. I still say Obama's team threw Clark under the bus. But it seems well timed personal hits are happening, just to provide Obama some cover. Strategy perhaps.

Last week Jackson's fuck-up... just in time to take the heat off Obama's FISA vote. It all seems a little co-ordinated. And they all seem to have a place in Obama's cabinet.

The hits just keep coming. The best know how to use them to spin cover for more egregarious problems or issues. Which means that the Obama campaign has learned to be opportunist (no surprise). It probably wasn't even a recently acquired skill.